-LRB- Rolling Stone -RRB- -- For me Ronnie 's passing is the end of an era .

Ronnie Montrose gave me my first break as a songwriter , as a front man , as a recording artist and as a touring artist , and for that I will always be grateful . The first Montrose album was the first album I ever recorded and it still stands as one of the best recordings I have ever been a part of . I wrote songs with him , but it was his trip . He 's the guy that got me to sing with him . I had no experience whatsoever ; I just wrote the first four songs in my life , which were `` Bad Motor Scooter , '' `` Make It Last , '' `` One Thing on My Mind , '' and `` I Do n't Want It , '' played them for Ronnie upon first meeting , shook my hand , and said , `` Let 's start a band . '' I went from zero to a hundred .

I saw him at Winterland with the Edgar Winter Group , -LSB- touring in support of -RSB- They Only Come Out at Night , with `` Free Ride '' and `` Frankenstein . '' I did n't know who he was ; I did n't know anything about him . I had a soul band -- we were playing Tower of Power and James Brown -- and we sat there and watched Edgar Winter . I told my guitar player , `` I want you to be like that '' -- like Ronnie Montrose . And he 's going , `` I do n't want to play that kind of music , '' and I 'm going , `` Well , I do . '' We got into it . It broke my band up , seeing Ronnie for the first time . I said , `` I 'm going to be like that guy . I 'm going to play guitar like that and I 'm going to sing like ... the way I sing . ''

I was talking to a guy a couple of days after the show , and he said , `` That 's Ronnie Montrose , and that was his last show . He lives in Sausalito . '' I lived in San Francisco , and I said , `` Do you have his address ? '' because I did n't even have a phone . He gave it to me , and I went and knocked on his door , dressed like David Bowie -- big old high heel platform shoes , satin pants , probably had make-up on , with a Les Paul and a notebook pad with all kinds of lyrics in it . I said , `` I 'm Sammy Hagar . I heard you 're looking for a singer . '' He said , `` Come on in . You got any songs ? '' I played him my four songs , we shook hands , and he said , `` Let 's start a band . Do you know any drummers ? I 've got a bass player , Bill Church . '' I had a drummer , Denny Carmassi -- was n't in my band , but he was my favorite drummer around town .

Within a month we were signed to Warner Bros. . Records , Ted Templeman producing , and the first Montrose album was born a month after that . It was the fastest thing I 've ever done in my life . Like I said , I went from zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye -- all because of Ronnie .

He was a changeling . Ronnie never liked to stick with anything . We made one of the greatest hard rock/heavy metal albums of all time with that first Montrose album , and then he did n't want to do that anymore . `` Nah , nah , we 've got to have better songs , we 've got to change our image , that kind of music is out . '' Boy , he was just laying it on us . Ronnie really liked to change -- immediately . We butted heads and I got thrown out of the band -LSB- after one more album , 1974 's Paper Money -RSB- , but I carried on with that `` first Ronnie Montrose '' I saw . What I learned from Ronnie Montrose , I still utilize today when I step on a stage . I try to keep the energy up and the entertainment high .

The first time Eddie Van Halen and I met , it was around 1977 . We were on a stadium show with Boston , Black Sabbath , myself , Van Halen . He came to my dressing room , and said , `` I 'm a Montrose freak , I love the band ! '' And Ted Templeman told me , when he signed Van Halen , they were called something else , and he wanted to name them after the guitar player . He said on the first Van Halen record , he took the first Montrose record in there and said , `` Boom . We 're going to have eight great songs , they 're going to be this long , they 're going to be this tempo . '' And pretty much patterned the whole thing after it -- right down to saying , `` Why do n't you guys get Sammy Hagar to sing in this band ? He 's been thrown out of Montrose . '' That 's a true story !

Eddie had a totally new twist on the whole guitar style thing , but as far as the chording goes -- not his soloing as much as the chording -- yeah , he took some of that big open chord thing -LSB- from Montrose -RSB- . The big open A , the big open D , the big open E. Everything as open as you could make it , to make it as heavy as possible with one guitar . And that was pretty much Ronnie 's style , too . And of course the fire , too -- Van Halen came out with all that fire , which is Ronnie . Ronnie was full of fire , man .

-LSB- I last spoke to Montrose -RSB- a couple of weeks ago , and about a week before that , and then four or five days before that . We were talking a lot , because we were planning a Montrose reunion for my birthday in Cabo this year . Montrose , the whole band , has not been there . Denny 's been there , Bill 's been there , Ronnie 's been there -- but -LSB- the whole band together -RSB- has never been there . I said to Ronnie , `` Come on , man . We 're all getting old . Let 's do this again while we can . '' And he was in , we were all in . On my 65th , on October 13th , I was planning on coming out with Montrose , doing the whole first album , then going in with my other band , and then bringing Chickenfoot out . I was going to try to -LSB- cover -RSB- my whole four decades for the fans that night , without nobody knowing . And Ronnie was in . It 's crazy . I even played back on my message box , February 10th -- `` Hagar , Ronzo ... call me back ! '' It was all good . It 's f *** ed up that those songs will never be played by those four members again . Songs can go forever , but we ca n't .

-LSB- I would like Montrose to be remembered -RSB- as one of the pioneers of American heavy/hard rock . And certainly , one of the great hard rock guitar players . But he was more than that -- he was really versatile . But if you 're going to remember him for anything , put on that first Montrose record .

The only positive I can grab onto is the fact that the music will live on . It 's a shame to lose Ronnie and I 'm so sorry for his loved ones . Rest in peace .

As told to Greg Prato

See the full article at RollingStone.com

Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone .

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Sammy Hagar : Ronnie Montrose gave me my first break as a songwriter , as a front man

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Hagar : -LSB- I would like Montrose to be remembered -RSB- as one of the pioneers of American heavy/hard rock

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Haragr : But he was more than that -- he was really versatile